Wales started their 1966 world cup qualification campaign in December 1964 and they suffered a 2-0 away defeat against Greece at Athens. In the return match in March 1965, the Welsh humiliated Greece, winning a classic encounter at Cardiff 4-1. They met Northern Ireland in a friendly before playing their next match, thrashing the nation 5-0, their finest victory in years. The Welsh travelled to Moscow in May 1965 to meet the Soviet Union, suffering a 2-1 defeat. Wales reversed the score line several months later in their next match at home to the Soviets, winning 2-1. They still had a glimpse of hope of qualifying before their match at home against Denmark all pending on other results going their way. Despite enjoying a fine 4-2 home win over the Danes at Wrexham, they did not qualify for the 1966 world cup in England. During their preparations for the 1968 European Football championships, the Welsh were poor, suffering four consecutive defeats including a 4-1 defeat against Northern Ireland at Cardiff. The 1968 European Football championships qualifying matches proved to be a debacle for the Welsh as they suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat against England in a match played at Wembley in 1967 before losing 3-0 to England at Cardiff. Their only win in the qualifying group came in a 2-0 home win at Wrexham against Northern Ireland.
Wales were in the same group as East Germany and Italy in attempting to qualify for the 1970 world cup. They lost all four of their matches in attempting to qualify, most notably including a 4-1 defeat against Italy at Rome in November 1969.